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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- On July 18, 1965, U.S. Navy Commander Jeremiah Denton took off from the aircraft carrier USS Independence leading a 28-plane mission over the city of Thanh Hoa in North Vietnam. Denton’s plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the attack, and for the next eight long years, he would battle the North Vietnamese as a prisoner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. As the senior American officer at the prison, Denton was forced by the North Vietnamese to participate in a press conference and told he must say the POWs were being treated well. Looking haggard, weak and beaten from the severe punishment he had undergone, Denton took advantage of that opportunity however, to send a secret message home, blinking out the letters T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code.
In this new APT original film, JEREMIAH, family, friends, and fellow POWs help tell the story of this American hero who led the way for prisoners in Hanoi and returned from Vietnam to become a U.S. Senator from Alabama. Six of Denton’s children are interviewed: Jeremiah III, James, Don, Mike, Mary and Madeleine. Other interviewees include Senate staffer Joel Lisker, who worked for Denton; Alvin Townley, author of Defiant; and Heath Hardige Lee, who is writing a history of the POW wives and the POW/MIA movement.
Along with Denton, the three veterans interviewed in the film - Robert Shumaker, James Muligan and George Coker - were part of the Alcatraz Eleven, a group of hardline resistors that the Vietnamese removed from the Hanoi Hilton and sent to a worse prison that the POW's named Alcatraz. There they spent two and a half years in solitary confinement in cells that were 3 1/2 feet wide and 9 feet tall with solid walls and a solid door.
One of the challenges JEREMIAH’s producer, Mark Fastoso, dealt with in the program was showing viewers what conditions were like for the POWs. Fastoso asked skilled theater designer Paige Hathaway to create miniatures of the hallways and cells of the North Vietnamese prisons, and director of photography Dennis Boni made them look like the real thing.
“I didn’t want to dramatize the torture and the suffering Denton and other POWs faced,” Fastoso said. “The accounts we hear in the interviews tell that story. But I did want people to be able to picture the environment they lived in.”
The interviews also describe what was happening back home to Denton’s wife, Jane, and their seven children, who wondered if he would ever return as they faced the turbulent social changes of the 1960’s. Jane Denton managed to overcome her grief at his imprisonment by becoming an activist and helping to start the POW/MIA Movement which was partially responsible for the Vietnamese ending their program of torture.
He was a brave man and a devout Catholic.
RIP
With greatest respect from Poland
He, along with Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, is the reason why I learned Morse code. He’s truly an inspiration.
What a wonderful man, and incredible family. It is a shame we let these heroes down so much. Let us pray America can once again deserve these heroes we sent there. Requiescat in pace.
A favorite son of Mobile, a hero, a devout Christian who served his country well as a brave POW, a Rear Admiral, and a U.S. Senator. He was well ahead of his time with compassion, understanding, and determination. We just need more like Admiral Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr.. Our nation needs far more leaders like him that truly care for all of America putting their lives on the line , serving this country with honesty and commitment during peace time and in national conflicts
My u rest in peace a true American hero
How does this only have 224 likes? Good gracious, that’s sad because every American should see this! RIP to all of our POW/MIA’s. God bless America 🇺🇸
He sounds like an incredible man who withstood so much and helped others when they felt they couldn't stay brave. For the commenter below, you I can imagine how people treated returning soldiers from Vietnam. I saw it, felt it, and didn't like it much at all. They didn't get a parade when they came home. They weren't treated as heros. In other words, they lost the war. It's their fault. I never believed it at all. But as a young teenager, I can still remember the countless news stories about soldiers coming home and committing suicide. One such incident has stayed with me all these years and it was a young soldier who came home from war, walked down to the beach, took his uniform off and folded it very neatly, then walked out into the water where he died. Horrible.
Can you imagine now how some our own citizens treated our soldiers so poorly when they were returning home? Some were spit on and called baby killers, but a lot were just ignored and forgotten about. Those people blamed the soldiers along with our country’s elected officials when they should have blamed the bureaucrats.
A story about a 'human being' who served his country in time of a 'war' and did same later, in time of a 'peace', in a turbulent world, RIP Jeremiah Denton 'GBU'
Thanks to all who collaborated on this excellent documentary of a GREAT American!! I am humbled. Our USMC son, just got the Lighthouse CD of Cmdr. Denton's story, so I went here to find some info. Jackpot! Thanks, again!!!!! I especially appreciate all the references to faith in God. ptL!
A very honorable man.
Incredible. Thanks for sharing
That was really moving and inspiring. Thank You.
'when Hell was in session' has Denton played by Hal Holbrook. I highly recommend it. it's a TV movie, but it's hard to watch at times.
They should create a movie for this...and I want tom hanks to play Jeremiah Denton
Snowfairy
Already did it called "When Hell was In Session"
ua-cam.com/video/vh_4qUH6dHQ/v-deo.html
omg yessss! tom hanks will be perfect for the role
Jeremiah kinda looks like Micheal scott so that actor should play him
Hal Holbrook did a great job
I thought I watched every documentary made on the Vietnam War. His is the 5/6th time I have watched this one in tears of course. Your Mother is a HERO TOO!!!!!! LUV YOU ALL SO MUCH💖💖💖💖💖💖 Please believe me when I say this is not the last either.
Thanks so much for posting. What a hero, but I must say, with all respect to Jeremiah, Mr. Armstrong, mentioned so briefly in this story, is a true hero as well.
Sandra Kaye Hansen that was very nice of him!!
this is just so heartbreaking... what an intelligent man....
Omg. How moving!!!!!!!.
Another message: As a CPO ADC(aw) from 1981 to 2001. I am forever indebted to my Navy family, whether new or old who inspired me to be a better man in and outside the US Navy. I went through US Navy Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape school (SERE-1988) which was certainly developed and inspired by this great man. Signed: AIRPAC SOY 98, JM.SUPLER ADC(AW) USN RET.
Imagine being tortured in a prison on the day a fellow country man steps foot on the moon for the first time. I wonder what was happening to Denton on that day or even if he knew Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.
They found out about it later when they saw a postage stamp depicting the event on one of the prisoner's letters.
While stationed at NAS Miramar, this TV show came up, Ummmm, mid 80s. From this point, I wanted to know more about the POW's.
Brilliant thank you
Did the POWs stay in touch after they came home?
After 66 days no Vietnamese soldier risked having Coker get his hands on them, that’s why you were part of the 11 sir.
I have no words for George Coker. He’s an amazing human being.
Matthew 11:28-30
King James Version
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
To their credit, the POWs here refused to be used by East German propaganda filmmakers who visited the Hanoi Hilton in 1967.
You conveniently forgot to mention, when this happened, that (in snide manner and referring to these group of POW) that "few of them were privates". Disgraceful.
While i most certainly would have strongly disagreed with the ultra-conservative politics of future (U. S.) Sen. Jeremiah A. Denton Jr, i truly admire his unyielding valor whilst being held captive as a POW during the Vietnam War. What would definititely not surprise me one iota is that if Denton were still alive and kicking, he would definitely be an enthusiastic backer of Trump. Yet, the sheer moral depravity of Trump will lead to the inevitable disintegration of the American 'body politic.'
I think the moral depravity of the majority of Democratics trumps anything President Trump has done.
Why did you even comment on this? All you wanted to do was say something rude. If you think for one minute that these commies on your side of the aisle are moral, I disagree greatly with you. Trump 2020. God Bless America. Land that I Love.
No one should assume what Jeremiah Denton would or would not have thought. I like to think that even if someone had been a life long Republican, that they (especially someone who had fought against a communist regime) would be able to recognize a political party or politician, that was anti-Democratic and promoting a Fascist agenda, as was demonstrated by the Jan. 6th, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol building. But the point of this film was to honor those that sacrificed and tell the story of the pows and their families and not get into political debates about Trump and the GOP.
@@phillygirl52jax44 lol you're so dumb
@@frag-ment Coming from a dunce, that's a complement.
These POW's were not hero's at all. They were the lucky ones that survived . The true heroes are the men whose name are on THE WALL. The men who never made it home .
How can you say that they weren't heroes just because they didn't die?! Actually, I should say Most of the pows in Vietnam didn't die, because 114 of the confirmed US pows in Vietnam Did die from either being outright Executed, Tortured to Death, died from Lack of Medical Treatment or died of Illness and Disease due to the inhumane treatment and conditions that they lived with. Their names Are on THE WALL as well. Many of the pows suffered even more than many of the men who died in combat, they died relatively quickly in comparison, while some of the pows spent over eight years being starved and tortured, and some pows died after suffering for five years in captivity, like Ron Storz for example. I am NOT downplaying those that died in combat at all, they Are heroes, but the pows are heroes as well. They served in the war and fought their battles in the combat zones of the camps. In addition, the first thing that the former pows would say and have said, is that the real heroes were they guys who never returned home; so you really are discrediting them in more ways than one.
Exactly. And there were POWS that were left in Vietnam as well. I’ve always been moved by Denton’s story and many others. He never made anyone feel badly for giving in during torture either.
Every man and woman that has served deserves the utmost respect.
My father was in the jungle of Vietnam and Cambodia for 13 months during the TET Offensive.
My husband was deployed to Iraq, twice and died at age 30 of combat injuries.
I had the honor of serving the U.S. as a career soldier, 36 Infantry Division “In Spite of Hell...Arrowhead”